mikebellhelo

Date: 02/07/2023 Name: Gorges State Park Waterfalls Trail near Sapphire, NC Distance: 7.3 Difficulty: Difficult Total Climbing Elevation: 1,742 Type: Out and Back Notes: This was one of our more challenging but rewarding hikes with a concentration of several large waterfalls in a hike. We visited four large waterfalls: Windy, Staircase, Rainbow and Turtleback Falls. […]

Date: 01/31/2023 Name: Unicoi State Park Bike Trails Distance: 6.9 Difficulty: Easy Total Climbing Elevation: 843 Type: Loop Notes: It was a good hike day with minor sprinkles on a cloudy day with very mild temperatures. The trail was wet, but not soggy, and it was reasonably maintained with a just a couple of blowdowns.

Date: 01/24/2023 Name: Cooper Creek Trail near Suches, GA Distance: 1.7 Difficulty: Easy Total Climbing Elevation: 256 Type: Loop Notes: We decided to hike the Cooper Creek Trail a short distance up a windy forest service road from our hike in the Valley of the Giants. The trail is a short, easy hike, with the

Date: 01/24/2023 Name: Valley of the Giants near Suches, GA Distance: 3.5 Difficulty: Easy Total Climbing Elevation: 420 Type: Out and Back Notes: A cold start, but a sunny day for this easy hike in the Coopers Creek WMA. With the exception of a few very large blowdowns, and considering the lack of any apparent

Date: 01/16/2023 Name: Blue Ridge Gap to Bly Gap on the Appalachian Trail near Hiawassee, GA Distance: 6.4 Difficulty: Moderate Total Climbing Elevation: 1,286 Type: Out and Back Notes: With last minute changes to the hike schedule, there were only three of us hiking today. This was a very nice hike on the northernmost section

Date: 01/10/2023 Name: Latham Cemetery and Pear Orchard Loop Distance: 5.4 Difficulty: Easy Total Climbing Elevation: 702 Type: Loop Notes: Another really nice hike with a large group of twenty hikers on a mild and sunny winter day. The main trails were in fair condition, but some of the side trails to the falls and

Date: 01/05/2023 Name: Grassy Knob Loop and Whitewater Falls south of Cashiers, NC Distance: 5.3 Difficulty: Moderate Total Climbing Elevation: 971 Type: Loop Notes: This was a great day for hiking with mild January temperatures and sunny skies. This trail is a combination of the Foothills Trail and Round Mountain Gap Trail ending with an

Date: 12/20/2022 Name: Helen to Unicoi State Park Lodge Distance: 6.3 Difficulty: Easy Total Climbing Elevation: 748 Type: Out & Back Notes: Another great hike beating the cloudy and rain- threatening skies with temperatures around 40 degrees throughout the hike. The trail was dry and in very good condition without many rocks, roots or steep

Date: 12/13/2022 Name: Arkaquah Trail from Brasstown Bald to Track Rock Gap Distance: 5.7 Difficulty: Moderate to Difficult Total Climbing Elevation: 633 up/~2,470 down Type: One Way 20-min Shuttle Notes: After a brief foggy start, the skies cleared and we had great weather with mostly clear skies, light breezes, and cool temperatures of 40-50 degrees.

Date: 12/08/2022 Name: Trails of Victoria Bryant State Park near Royston, GA Distance: 5.8 Difficulty: Moderate Total Climbing Elevation: 702 Type: Multiple Loops Notes: We lucked up with a break in the week-long rain spell with mostly cloudy skies and warm temperatures of 60-70 degrees. The trails were in very good condition, but covered with